Romantics looking to set up Valentine’s Day surprises might have to come up with a plan B.
With record-breaking snowfall across the Island, some local flower shops foresee problems with pre-set deliveries.
At Harry’s Flowers on Oak Bay Avenue, staff said they have had to call people who were scheduled to receive deliveries on Valentine’s Day and inform them they can no longer guarantee the flowers will arrive on the big day.
“We get calls from the U.K., and all over the world. We even had a call from South Africa to send flowers last year to the family dog,” said Barbara Degagne, a florist at Harry’s. “We will notify if they’re un-deliverable on that day. That way the recipient knows that they have flowers coming to them.”
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Another hiccup for surprises is the temperature. Flowers won’t fare well in cold weather, and the staff at Harry’s don’t want to leave flowers sitting outside waiting for people to get home.
Don Hardy is a co-owner of deliveryvictoria.com, a local company that provides flower delivery services for what Hardy said is “most” of the florists in the city. He said deliveries on Monday took almost four times longer than usual to make 17 stops.
“It’s not the badness of the roads, it’s the badness of people’s yards,” Hardy said. “There’s nowhere to park, there’s nowhere to stop, and the snow is really bad.”
Hardy said he hates to be sitting around losing money, but he isn’t about to ask people to risk their lives delivering flowers. His company also does some grocery and pharmacy deliveries, and Hardy said that if something urgent was needed then he would go out himself.
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Back at Harry’s Flowers, staff are busy prepping bouquets for the big day. They have enough stock, but also recommend people come in person to get their flowers this year, assuming the weather is safe for getting around.
“We’re all prepared to get it done, it’s just the delivery is the glitch with the snow,” Degegne said.
“If you need flowers for your girlfriend, it’ll probably be a good idea to go down to there and get them,” Hardy echoed. “Take her for a walk. This only happens once every 17 years.”
jesse.laufer@oakbaynews.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
